Reversible-rotor pulverizer with traveling breaker-plate means at each side of the rotor



Sept. 19, 1950 J. 1'. FOWLER 2,523,004

REVERSIBLE-ROTOR PULVERIZER WITH 'IRAVELING BREAKER-PLATE V MEANS AT EACH SIDE OF THE ROTOR 7 Filed June 25, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEINTOE; J HN T F'QWLER,

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Sept. 19, 1 950 r J.IT. FOWLER 2,523,004

azvsasmw-ao'ron mvmxzm mu mvsunc BREAKER-PLATE 2 sheets-shat 2 HEARS AT EACH SIDE OF THE ROTOR Filed June 25, 1945 HTT'Y both the head and foot members.

Patented Sept. 19, 1950 REVERSIBLE-ROTOR PULVERIZER WITH TRAVELING BREAKER-PLATE MEANS AT EACH SIDE OF THE ROTOR John '1'. Fowler, Columbus, Ohio, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application June 25, 1945, Serial No. 601,468

This invention relates to a pulverizer or crusher.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved pulverizer or crusher which is designed particularly to handle sticky material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pulverizer or crusher preferably, but not necessarily, of the rotary swing hammer type, in which the direction of rotation of the pulverizer or crusher rotor is reversible and in which traveli breaker plates are positioned on each side of the rotor.

In carrying out the foregoing object, it is another object of the invention to provide a pulverizer or crusher wherein the travelingbreaker plates. are endless chains that are caused to cooperate with devices that remove sticky material a that may adhere to the breaker plates whereby the sticky material will not accumulate in the housing and prevent eflicient operationof the apparatus.

Other and further objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of my invention is shown.

In the drawings,

'Fig. 1 is aside view in elevation of a pulverlzer or crusher incorporating the features of my inineither direction by a driving motor, not illustrated and to reduce material by substantially the same action for each direction of. rotation. For this purpose hammers I3 are symmetrical for each direction of rotation. The main frame II that forms the casing or housing includes a headmemberll, 9. foot or base member ii that is open at its top and bottom, and side plates l6 interposed between the head member I4 and the foot or base member l5. The head member I4 is thus supported upon the foot or base member [5 bysaid plate members ii. Plates ii are provided with flanges II that cooperate with flanges It on Preferably the frame members are removably secured together.

3 Claims. (Cl. 241-187) 2 as by bolts (not shown), that extend through the flanges i1 and i8. Each side member IQ of the foot or base member l5 carries, upon supports 20 that are made integral therewith}; selfaligning rotor supporting bearing 2| that receives the rotor shaft I2, the shaft l2 extending across and through the casing or housing and having its material reducing portion between the end walls thereof.

Positioned symmetrically with respect to a vertical plane taken through the axis of the rotor and to each side of the rotor is a pair of similar endless chain conveyors 23 that extend upwardly and inwardly and which function as traveling breaker plates which selectively or alternately receive and reduce material when first impelled by the rotor for reverse rotation thereof. At their upper ends the chains 25 of the conveyors 23 are carried and driven by shafts 28 that carry sprockets 21 over which the chains 25 ride. The side plates 15 of the head member H are notched or slotted at 23 to receive the shafts 26 and suitable self-aligning bearings 23 that are secured to the side plates of the head member ll support the ends of the shafts 26. The bottoms of the chains 25 are carried by idler shafts 3i that carry sprockets 32. The idler shafts 3i are mounted on the main frame through plates 33 that are provided with flanges 34 that coincide with flanges 35 on the side plates II, which flanges are preferably bolted together. The bottoms of the idler supporting plates 33 are notched at 35 to provide bearing ways that slidably receive idler shaft bearings 31. The bearings 31 are movable in the bearing ways 36 for adjusting the position of the idler shafts 3|, and consequently the tension of the conveyor chains 25, and are secured in their adjusted positions by suitable adjusting mechanisms 38.

Positioned between the runs of each conveyor chain 25 is a backing or breaker plate reinforcing member 39 that includes a main plate ll over which the back of the inner run of the conveyor chain 25 is adapted to slide. Extending outwardly from the back of the inner run of the backing or breaker plate reinforcing member is a plurality of ribs 4| that are slotted as at 42. Extending through the slots 42 in each backing or breaker plate reinforcing member 39 are three bars 43 that extend between the ends of the main frame It and are rigidly attached thereto as by suitable end plates (not shown) which are removably attached to the inside of the main frame end walls. The slots 42 in the backing plate or reinforcing member 33 preferably extend up-,

wardly and outwardly so that the breaker plate reinforcing member 39, by reason of its weight, will hear at all timesagainst the outside or back of the inner or breaker plate run 39 of the conveyor chain 25. The breaker plate reinforcing members 39 function to cause the portions of the breaker plate runs 39 of conveyor chains 25 which they abut to become in effect a. solid sliding breaker plate.

I prefer to use conveyor chains 25 that are constructed as disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 564,014, filed November 18, 1944 (Patent 2,497,985 issued Feb. 21, 1950), for a Pulverizer. It may be stated, however, that the chain \is of rugged structure and includes a self-cleaning feature in that as the chain articulates over its sprockets 21 and 32 discharge spaces 22 are formed between adjacent chain links, thus providing for free discharge of material which may have accumulated on the inside of the chain particularly after the material has become dry. The chains 25 of the conveyors 23 are dniven by a motor 44 (see Fig. 1) that is mounted upon the head member I4 and is connected to the shafts ably lined with replaceable wear plate members 62 that are secured to said side walls, as by bolts 63. The outer edges of the outermost plates 64 of the wear plate members 62 form guide means 5 for the upgoing or breaker plate runs an of the 26 of the conveyors. The shafts 26 are driven through a speed reducing drive mechanism which includes a sprocket mounted on the motor shaft and a large diameter sprocket 46 that is rigidly carried by the left hand conveyor drive shaft 26. Sprocket 45 drives sprocket 46 through a chain 41.

Mounted upon the main frame head l4 and on the right side thereof (as viewed in Fig. 1) is a jackshaft 48 which is carried by suitable bearings 49 and includes a sprocket 50 which is connected to a sprocket 5| of equal diameter that is secured to the left hand conveyor shaft- 26 by a chain 52. The right hand conveyor shaft 26 and the jackshaft 48 each carry gears 53 that are of equal diameter but which are preferably of a greater diameter than the sprockets 50 and 5|. Thus it will be seen that motor 44 drives both conveyors 23 in the same direction, namely, with their inner or breaker runs 39 moving upbreaker plate reinforcing members 39.

wardly and it will also be seen that the rate of 4 travel of the right hand conveyor will be the same as that of the left hand conveyor since all of the sprocket and gear ratios except that of the speed reducing sprockets 45 and 46 are 1 to 1.

Positioned beneath the rotor H is a pair of material reducing bar screens 54, one of which is positioned to either side of a vertical plane taken through the rotor axis. Each bar screen includes an adjustable main breaker bar 55 and a plurality of stationary breaker bars 56. The main breaker bars 55 of each screen 54 extend through the end walls of themain frame In and are received by bar supporting elements 59 on the outside thereof. The main breaker bars are adjustable with respect to the rotor H by shims 51 and bolts 58 that extend through openings in the ends of the main breaker bars, shims and breaker bar supporting elements 59. The main breaker bars are adjustable mainly to compensate for wear of the hammers l3 and to assist in con trolling the fineness to which material will be reduced by the apparatus.

Positioned outwardly of each bar screen and within the foot or base member l5 of the main frame 19 is a plurality of chains 60; that hang from cross bars 6|. The functions of the bar screens 54 and chains 60 will be discussed in detail hereinafter. I

The side walls of the main frame It are preferchains 25 of the conveyors 23.

Immediately below the outer plate members 64 are auxiliary stationary breaker plates 65 that extend crosswise of the casing and close the space or gap between the bar screens 54 and the conveyors 23 thus acting as bottom framing means to determine the lower edge of the portion of traveling breaker plate surface of a run 30. The auxiliary breaker plates 65 are removable from the main frame l0 through openings in the sides thereof by removing the end mounting members I66 of the auxiliary breaker plate 65 and sliding the auxiliary breaker plate 65 endwise out of the housing. Positioned directly above each of the outer plate members 64 are scraper members 66 that extend between the end walls of the main frame It and are secured thereto by bolts 61 and act as upper framing means to define the upper edge of the exposed surface of a traveling breaker plate. The chains 25 bear against the scraper members 66 and the scrapers remove or scrape therefrom any sticky material that may have adhered thereto and cause the removed material to fall downwardly into the reducing zone of the apparatus where it will be further reduced by action of the hammers l3 and discharged from the machine.

The outer plate members 64, auxiliary breaker plates 65 and scraper members 66 constitute rectangular frames, one being on each end of the housing, which define areas on the faces of the upgoing runs 30 of the conveyor chains 25 which areas lie directly over the backing or The areas defined by the frames form the traveling breaker plates of the pulverizer or crusher.

Referring to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the inner run 39 of each conveyor chain 25 is maintained against the frame under tension since the outer edge of the frame is positioned outwardly of a plane that is tangent to the inner or breaker plate face of the chain at the driving or idler sprockets 21 and 32. Thus the inner, upward, or breaker plate run 39 of the chain is 0 deflected outwardly and slides upon the auxiliary breaker plate 65, the outer ends or edges of the side plates 64 and the scraper members 66 and is reinforced or made rigid in the breaker plate area by the backing or breaker plate reinforcing member 39 which also causes the breaker plate area of the run 39 of the chain to be maintained against the frame.

The side walls of the head member I4 of the main frame l0 form a cradle 68 for receiving a feed chute assembly 69. sembly 69 includes a stationary body 10 having end walls II that are received in the cradle 68 formed in the side walls of the head member l4 and in which they are preferably bolted through flanges 12 on the end walls of the chute assembly 69 and flanges 13 on the side walls of the head member I4. The body Ill of the feed chute assembly includes an inlet chute 14 that leads to a material directing chute 15 pivoted to and between the end walls ll of the chute assembly by stub shafts 16 that extend through the end walls ll. A lever in the form of a handle Tl that is secured to the outer end of one of the stub shafts 16 cooperates with flanges 18 on one end wall 'll of the feed assembly and the outer walls of the The feed chute as- 7 head member it through a locking pin 10 to position the pivoted chute Ii. The chute Ii may occupy either of two positions which are indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The feed chute assembly above described is disclosed and claimed in a co-pending application of Lloyd K. Knight for a Crusher, Serial No. 603,367, filed July 5, 1945. (Patent 2,463,631 issued March 8, 1949.)

In operation, the rotor of the pulverizer or crusher may travel in either direction as indicated by the arrow, but for purposes of description it will be assumed that the rotor is traveling in a counter-clockwise direction.

and by changing the position of the ivoted feed While the pulverizer or crusher is designed particularly so thatit will treat sticky material it is to be clearly understood that it is equally usable The pulverizer or crusher is adapted to reduce various kinds of material which may be, for example, wet marl, limeshell marl, various ores, a

mixture of stone and mud, or other material whether wet and sticky or dry. Material to be reduced, such as sticky material of the type above mentioned, will be fed hrough the inlet chute n to the pivoted chute 15, which, when the rotor is traveling in a counter-clockwise direction, will divert the material to the left side of the apparatus (as viewed in Fig. 2) where it will drop into the reducing chamber and into the path of the hammers is of the rotor Ii; The hammers II on striking the material will cause an initial pulverizing or reducing action and impel the material against the left hand traveling breaker plate area of the breaker plate run 30 of chain where a secondary pulverizing or reducing action will take place. At least a part of the material will fall from the breaker plate into the path of thehammers l3 where additional reducing action will take place and this action will continue until the material is adequately pulverized or reduced so as to pass through the left hand screen 54.

The sticky material which adheres to the traveling breaker plate chain will be scraped there-- from by the scraper 8i and returned to the path of the hammers It. Any material which passes through the breaker plates and accumulates inside the conveyor chains 25 will be discharged therefrom, particularly when it becomes dry, by passing through the discharge spaces 22 in the chain.

I have found that for reducing most materials a pair of bar screens lil are suitable. However, it may be desirable in certain instances to place screen bars 50 in the space between the ends of the screen to form a single screen that encases the lower half of the rotor II. The sticky material that is ejectedthroughthe bar screen I strikes the chains I. but because the chains 80 hang freely, the material will not build up thereon to any great extent, it being loosened on the chains by vibrations of the machine and the impacts of additional material striking the chains.

There is a tendency for sticky material to build with dry material and in many installations it will be used in wet weather for-sticky material and in dry weather for dry material, the material being the same in both instances, except for the water content.

When the pulverizer or crusher is used for dry material, the motor 44 may not be operated at all, or if so, it may be operated only periodically, in which former case the conveyors 23 will be stationary. In such case the breaker plates will be stationary but can be adjusted to present different block links to form an effective breaker plate.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended and I wish therefore not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

'1. In a crusher, the combination with a frame providing a central symmetrical reducing chamber, a reversible material crushing hammer rotor located centrally thereof and having symmetrical reducing devices thereon adapted to produce substantially the same reducing action for each direction of rotation, and adapted when rotating to strike materal and reduce it while impelling at leastsome of said material, a pair of rectilinearly traveling breaker plate means symmetrically arranged one on each side of said rotor selectively adapted first to receive said material when struck and impelled by said rotor as determined by its direction of rotation, upper and lower framing members adjacent the top and bottom, respectively, of said reducing chamber and defining a continuous area of each breaker plate means between said upper and lower framing members which is exposed to said reducing chamber, and means for operating said breaker plate means to present new surfaces between said framing members thereby presenting new surfaces to said re- .ducing chamber, said'traveling breaker plate up on the wall opposite the breaker plate which is y acting to crush material and I have found that by forming each side wall as a traveling breaker platethat material cannot accumulate to any great extent within the housing, both traveling breaker plates being operative to cause their scrapers to return any material which may have accumulated thereon back to the reducing zone or area of the pulverizer or crusher.

means including endless traveling chains.

2. In a crusher, the combination with a frame providing a central symmetrical reducing chamher, a reversible material crushing hammer rotor located centrally thereof and having symmetrical reducing devices thereon adapted to produce substantially the same reducing action for each direction of rotation and adapted when rotating to strike material and reduce it while impelling at least some of said material, a pair of rectilinearly traveling breaker plate means symmetrically arranged one on each side of said rotor selectively adapted first to receive said material when struck and impelled by'said rotor as determined by its direction of rotation, upp r and by chans ns the direction of rotation of the rotor 7 to present new surfaces between said framing members thereby presenting new surfaces to reducing chamber.

3. In a crusher, the combination with a frame providing a central symmetrical reducing chamber, a reversible material crushing hammer rotor located centrally thereof and adapted when-rotating to strike material-and reduce it while impelling at least some of saidmaterial, a pair of rectilinearly traveling breaker plate means symmetrically arranged one on each side of said rotor selectively adapted first to receive said material when struck and impelled by said rotor as determined by its direction of rotation, upper framing members defining the upper limit of each breaker plate means exposed to said reducing chamber, and means for operating said breaker plate means to present new surfaces to said resaid ducing chamber, said traveling breaker plate means including endless traveling chains.

JOHN T. FOWLER.

8 narmancas crran The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 292,543 Dandurand Jan. 29, 1884 1,764,138 Addicks June 17, 1930 1,791,669 Frickey Feb. 10, 1931 1,829,895 Frickey Nov. 3, 1931 2,005,758 Shiley June 25, 1935 2,036,521 Fowler Apr. 7, 1936 2,149,571 Battey Mar. 7, 1939 2,170,407 Hartshorn Aug. 22, 1939 2,226,741 Randolph Dec. 31, 1940 2,287,799 Hartshorn June 30, 1942 2,373,691 Kessler Apr. 17, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 711,780 France July 8, 1931 5,765 Great Britain Nov. 28, 1907 238,117 Great Britain Aug. 13, 1925 

